Motivation and Teams Case Study

Jacqueline Cruz

BUS/210

Week 6- CheckPoint – Motivation and Teams Case Study

A person’s desire to perform a job at a high level is his or her work motivation. There are psychological forces within people that control how motivated a person can be. In total, there are six theories of motivation that were discussed in the text: Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory, expectancy theory, goal-setting theory, management by objectives, equity theory and job enrichment theory.

The goal setting theory suggests that setting a variety of different levels of goals motivates employees to perform at a high level. This theory was found in both of the case studies in this chapter. The Two Men and a Truck business began with just one truck and through goal setting, Mary Ellen Sheets was able to grow and franchise her business. The Siemen’s new boss began to set production goals for the employees in the company, to help production speed up as part of an effort to improve the company.

Another motivation theory I thought was included in the case studies was the Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory. This theory explains the specific needs people are trying to satisfy through their behaviors at work. Both people mentioned in these case studies seem to begin searching for ways to satisfy their needs self-actualization. Sheets wanted to continue growing the company so that the company name was well recognized and so that the profits were growing. Kleinfeld’s wanted to continue challenging the company to produce goods that stood up to other well know companies, like the waterproof phone they came out with.

There are several types of teams that an owner can utilize with their approach to creating a great business. I believe in the case studies we reviewed this week, both business owners used the cross-functional teams. A cross-functional team is a group of people from a company’s various functions who work together to increase the organization’s efficiency and effectiveness. Once Sheets...